Wednesday, April 23, 2008
AMERICAN IDOL TOP 6
Smooth: Well, going in I thought this was the Worst Theme Ever. Seriously, Andrew Lloyd Webber has written some well known stuff for Broadway, but nothing in his repertoire is at all relevant to what any of these kids would do if they cut an album.
E.K.: No kidding. The themes this season have just completely sucked. Has anyone gotten to do an actual relevant non-Mariah Carey song from this decade? Seriously, off-hand, I can't think of one.
Smooth: Plus, he is seriously freaky looking. Yikes. We started with Syesha Mercado's meet 'n' greet with ALW. She ridiculously asked if she should be animated, and he had her do an "un-animated" version of "One Rock & Roll Too Many" (from Starlight Express, apparently) in which she intentionally looked around nervously while not moving a muscle in her body, like ALW was going to say "Actually, that looks awesome! Do that on stage!" Anyway, the song started and Syesha looks really good, with a kind of retro haircut and a very slinky dress. She was off the beat at the start and has a few flat/weak moments with her voice, but for the most part she sounds good, as usual. She was definitely having a good time with it, and hamming it up as much as her "acting" background will allow. The judges say she could do well on Broadway and I have to agree. It was more entertaining than her usual ballads.
E.K.: I thought it was pretty good as well. She started singing maybe a note-and-a-half too soon and I wondered if she'd catch on, and fortunately she did. (This would turn out to not be the worst beginning to a performance on Tuesday night. More on the Brooke-tastrophe later.) Syesha had a lot of fun with it, and even though she did hit a few pitchy spots, she proved that she is comfortable in this genre. It was overall nice work.
Smooth: Next was Jason Castro with "Memory" from Cats. Said Jason: "Uh, I didn't even know a cat was singing it." Good God, man. ALW seemed worried about how the performance will go. Aaaaand rightly so. It started off kind of OK, with the normal laid back Castro take, but it quickly gets too low in his register. Then it's almost too high. It's always bad, though. He just doesn't have the vocal chops to pull this song off, but that would be a problem for him with almost any Broadway material. It's super-boring and not good. Paula says it sounded like a pop ballad, which it really, really didn't.
E.K.: Paula's insane. Anyway, this was indeed a low point for Castro. Wrong song, spotty singing, etc. Unlike Syesha, Jason proved he was completely out of his element here. Not only was he obviously not comfortable, he just doesn't have the Broadway-tune persona to pull this thing off. Tough break for him this week.
Smooth: Brooke sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita. ALW awesomely said Brooke has "no clue" what the song is about and that she should probably think about the lyrics a little bit. Brooke screwed up the lyrics at the start, and restarted the whole band.
E.K.: It was at this point when I paused it, shuddered, and said, "Oh, no. Oh, no," over and over, just because, like Archuleta did a few weeks back, once a singer messes up that bad, it's just a pain to watch the rest of the performance because I'm always thinking the singer is bound to screw up again. Interesting choice to stop the song and ask for a do-over. I thought that given the circumstances, I would probably have done the same thing (as Simon said post-song) and hope I remembered the words the next time around. Fortunately she did, but unfortunately, it just was not going to be her night after that. I don't think a full recovery can be made once that happens.
Smooth: I'm just not going to say that's OK here. We're close to the end, and these singers should be pretty professional. She had one song to sing. Something like that is unlikely to happen at a concert, and it wouldn't happen in Broadway no matter what. Anyway, I think it did shake her a bit, because her voice is even more quavering and weak than usual. Like Jason, she doesn't have the voice for Broadway. Even Paula has a hard time coming up with positive comments. She is definitely feeling sheepish about the whole thing afterward, and she looks scared and sad, and I feel bad for her.
E.K.: I think the only reason she could ever get away with such a gaffe is that she's so genuine in her performing that she is easily forgiveable. Brooke could maybe bludgeon my entire family with a Louisville Slugger, smile and say, "I'm sorry, it just wasn't my night," and I might be able to forgive her. If she were at all a poseur, she'd lose all credibility.
Smooth: David Archuleta did "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera, and is apparently changing it up. I have no idea.
E.K.: I'm surprised I even know what Phantom of the Opera is.
Smooth: ALW says the song --
E.K.: Dude, it's "A-Web." Don't you know anything about the hip teenies today?
Smooth: I shall punch you. The song was written for a "diva" and he can't imagine a "boy" singing it. Especially an exceedingly masculine, highly sexual creature like David, am I right? Barf. Oh, Ryan has some tweens come up and hug David before he starts singing which is pointless and stupid. The song is... fine. It's exactly what I'd expect of David. It's fairly boring, with a good vocal, and lots of emoting and loud breathing. Randy and Paula LOVE it, but Simon thankfully points out that it was nothing special.
E.K.: I have had it up to my bald head with this "Awww, he's such a cutie!" nonsense. And how fake was that bring-the-girls-on-stage-for-a-hug crap? David sang it well, I thought, but it sounded like he messed up some lyrics (but how would I know? I guess since he mumbled a line or two). I think he got away with whatever it was, and I am thinking there is no way he'll be voted out. As Ryan called out David's voting phone number, David, as is custom, stood there with a dopey smile on his face. He looks like a freaking Muppet.
Smooth: ALW forced Carly to throw away her original ballad song choice and do "Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar. He says the new choice fits her voice a lot better, and weirdly keeps referring to her "Irish eyes having it." Anyway, ALW is right, as Carly sounds good. She freaking rocks out, looking way happier than usual, although she manages to throw some angry faces in there too. She does get a lyric wrong at the beginning (singing "Superstar" while the backup singers sing "Jesus Christ"). As Simon later points out, it's kind of yelly, but it still sounds good; Broadway stuff really rewards vocal strength like Carly's. This is her best performance in quite a while. I'm not sure if it will save her from the bottom three, but I was entertained and -- like Syesha -- I'm glad she didn't just do another ballad.
E.K.: I thought it was same-old, same-old from Carly. Way too yelly, and she just barely missed those high notes (at least to my ears). She looks very good in the dress, though, and I must salute the costumers; they're finally putting her in something that accentuates her beauty instead of detract from it. I did catch her messing up the lyrics, too, I think more than once. But the dress was nice. Time's winding down, and we're still missing the showstopping performance I thought Carly would have given by now. She still looked great, though. She is disappointing me. Did I mention the dress?
Smooth: Shut it. David Cook apparently is very familiar with musical theater, and it seemed like ALW wanted to get very familiar with him, wink wink.
E.K.: Nudge nudge. Know what I mean?
Smooth: Say no more! He did another well-known song, "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera. David did a surprisingly straightforward rendition.
E.K.: I wouldn't know.
Smooth: He did put a slight rock edge on it, but he enunciated and phrased it like a Broadway singer would. It sounded pretty good; David's vocals have always been fairly strong and he showed off some range here. I was still bored by it, though, and it was a rather cheesy choice of song, but once again both of those are byproducts of the theme. The girls squee uncontrollably.
E.K.: Yeah, at the start, I thought, oh my, he's definitely overdoing it with the e-nun-ci-a-ting. But a few seconds later, the obvious hit me: That's exactly how a Broadway song is supposed to sound! And from then on, it totally worked for me, and he actually rocked it out, and I liked it, and there's absolutely no way I will ever be caught dead at an Andrew Lloyd Webber show.
Smooth: Yeah, couple of decent performances in there, but that theme sucked.
E.K.: It sucked. Can we please have a Songs-That-Are-Younger-Than-The-Contestants week?
Smooth: So I'm thinking Brooke, Jason and Carly are the bottom three, with Brooke voted out.
E.K.: Yeah, I might have to do one of those stupid candlelight vigil things, because I think Brooke is out tonight. Fare thee well, fine young maiden. I think Syesha and Jason will round out the bottom three. Let's watch tonight!
Smooth: Okay!
E.K.: I'll bring the popcorn!
Smooth: No! Stay home!
E.K.: I don't know who you are anymore.
E.K.: No kidding. The themes this season have just completely sucked. Has anyone gotten to do an actual relevant non-Mariah Carey song from this decade? Seriously, off-hand, I can't think of one.
Smooth: Plus, he is seriously freaky looking. Yikes. We started with Syesha Mercado's meet 'n' greet with ALW. She ridiculously asked if she should be animated, and he had her do an "un-animated" version of "One Rock & Roll Too Many" (from Starlight Express, apparently) in which she intentionally looked around nervously while not moving a muscle in her body, like ALW was going to say "Actually, that looks awesome! Do that on stage!" Anyway, the song started and Syesha looks really good, with a kind of retro haircut and a very slinky dress. She was off the beat at the start and has a few flat/weak moments with her voice, but for the most part she sounds good, as usual. She was definitely having a good time with it, and hamming it up as much as her "acting" background will allow. The judges say she could do well on Broadway and I have to agree. It was more entertaining than her usual ballads.
E.K.: I thought it was pretty good as well. She started singing maybe a note-and-a-half too soon and I wondered if she'd catch on, and fortunately she did. (This would turn out to not be the worst beginning to a performance on Tuesday night. More on the Brooke-tastrophe later.) Syesha had a lot of fun with it, and even though she did hit a few pitchy spots, she proved that she is comfortable in this genre. It was overall nice work.
Smooth: Next was Jason Castro with "Memory" from Cats. Said Jason: "Uh, I didn't even know a cat was singing it." Good God, man. ALW seemed worried about how the performance will go. Aaaaand rightly so. It started off kind of OK, with the normal laid back Castro take, but it quickly gets too low in his register. Then it's almost too high. It's always bad, though. He just doesn't have the vocal chops to pull this song off, but that would be a problem for him with almost any Broadway material. It's super-boring and not good. Paula says it sounded like a pop ballad, which it really, really didn't.
E.K.: Paula's insane. Anyway, this was indeed a low point for Castro. Wrong song, spotty singing, etc. Unlike Syesha, Jason proved he was completely out of his element here. Not only was he obviously not comfortable, he just doesn't have the Broadway-tune persona to pull this thing off. Tough break for him this week.
Smooth: Brooke sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita. ALW awesomely said Brooke has "no clue" what the song is about and that she should probably think about the lyrics a little bit. Brooke screwed up the lyrics at the start, and restarted the whole band.
E.K.: It was at this point when I paused it, shuddered, and said, "Oh, no. Oh, no," over and over, just because, like Archuleta did a few weeks back, once a singer messes up that bad, it's just a pain to watch the rest of the performance because I'm always thinking the singer is bound to screw up again. Interesting choice to stop the song and ask for a do-over. I thought that given the circumstances, I would probably have done the same thing (as Simon said post-song) and hope I remembered the words the next time around. Fortunately she did, but unfortunately, it just was not going to be her night after that. I don't think a full recovery can be made once that happens.
Smooth: I'm just not going to say that's OK here. We're close to the end, and these singers should be pretty professional. She had one song to sing. Something like that is unlikely to happen at a concert, and it wouldn't happen in Broadway no matter what. Anyway, I think it did shake her a bit, because her voice is even more quavering and weak than usual. Like Jason, she doesn't have the voice for Broadway. Even Paula has a hard time coming up with positive comments. She is definitely feeling sheepish about the whole thing afterward, and she looks scared and sad, and I feel bad for her.
E.K.: I think the only reason she could ever get away with such a gaffe is that she's so genuine in her performing that she is easily forgiveable. Brooke could maybe bludgeon my entire family with a Louisville Slugger, smile and say, "I'm sorry, it just wasn't my night," and I might be able to forgive her. If she were at all a poseur, she'd lose all credibility.
Smooth: David Archuleta did "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera, and is apparently changing it up. I have no idea.
E.K.: I'm surprised I even know what Phantom of the Opera is.
Smooth: ALW says the song --
E.K.: Dude, it's "A-Web." Don't you know anything about the hip teenies today?
Smooth: I shall punch you. The song was written for a "diva" and he can't imagine a "boy" singing it. Especially an exceedingly masculine, highly sexual creature like David, am I right? Barf. Oh, Ryan has some tweens come up and hug David before he starts singing which is pointless and stupid. The song is... fine. It's exactly what I'd expect of David. It's fairly boring, with a good vocal, and lots of emoting and loud breathing. Randy and Paula LOVE it, but Simon thankfully points out that it was nothing special.
E.K.: I have had it up to my bald head with this "Awww, he's such a cutie!" nonsense. And how fake was that bring-the-girls-on-stage-for-a-hug crap? David sang it well, I thought, but it sounded like he messed up some lyrics (but how would I know? I guess since he mumbled a line or two). I think he got away with whatever it was, and I am thinking there is no way he'll be voted out. As Ryan called out David's voting phone number, David, as is custom, stood there with a dopey smile on his face. He looks like a freaking Muppet.
Smooth: ALW forced Carly to throw away her original ballad song choice and do "Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar. He says the new choice fits her voice a lot better, and weirdly keeps referring to her "Irish eyes having it." Anyway, ALW is right, as Carly sounds good. She freaking rocks out, looking way happier than usual, although she manages to throw some angry faces in there too. She does get a lyric wrong at the beginning (singing "Superstar" while the backup singers sing "Jesus Christ"). As Simon later points out, it's kind of yelly, but it still sounds good; Broadway stuff really rewards vocal strength like Carly's. This is her best performance in quite a while. I'm not sure if it will save her from the bottom three, but I was entertained and -- like Syesha -- I'm glad she didn't just do another ballad.
E.K.: I thought it was same-old, same-old from Carly. Way too yelly, and she just barely missed those high notes (at least to my ears). She looks very good in the dress, though, and I must salute the costumers; they're finally putting her in something that accentuates her beauty instead of detract from it. I did catch her messing up the lyrics, too, I think more than once. But the dress was nice. Time's winding down, and we're still missing the showstopping performance I thought Carly would have given by now. She still looked great, though. She is disappointing me. Did I mention the dress?
Smooth: Shut it. David Cook apparently is very familiar with musical theater, and it seemed like ALW wanted to get very familiar with him, wink wink.
E.K.: Nudge nudge. Know what I mean?
Smooth: Say no more! He did another well-known song, "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera. David did a surprisingly straightforward rendition.
E.K.: I wouldn't know.
Smooth: He did put a slight rock edge on it, but he enunciated and phrased it like a Broadway singer would. It sounded pretty good; David's vocals have always been fairly strong and he showed off some range here. I was still bored by it, though, and it was a rather cheesy choice of song, but once again both of those are byproducts of the theme. The girls squee uncontrollably.
E.K.: Yeah, at the start, I thought, oh my, he's definitely overdoing it with the e-nun-ci-a-ting. But a few seconds later, the obvious hit me: That's exactly how a Broadway song is supposed to sound! And from then on, it totally worked for me, and he actually rocked it out, and I liked it, and there's absolutely no way I will ever be caught dead at an Andrew Lloyd Webber show.
Smooth: Yeah, couple of decent performances in there, but that theme sucked.
E.K.: It sucked. Can we please have a Songs-That-Are-Younger-Than-The-Contestants week?
Smooth: So I'm thinking Brooke, Jason and Carly are the bottom three, with Brooke voted out.
E.K.: Yeah, I might have to do one of those stupid candlelight vigil things, because I think Brooke is out tonight. Fare thee well, fine young maiden. I think Syesha and Jason will round out the bottom three. Let's watch tonight!
Smooth: Okay!
E.K.: I'll bring the popcorn!
Smooth: No! Stay home!
E.K.: I don't know who you are anymore.
